A loop of tinsel can be suspended in the air using electrostatic
repulsion by a PVC rod.

Material

Tinsel (a thin strip of aluminized mylar about 30 cm
long)

PVC tubing (1/2 inch or 3/4 inch)

wool (You can get wool cheap at used clothing stores, wash it
and dry it well.)

plastic drinking straws

scissors

Assembly

Tie the tinsel into a loop. It will then be a loop with two legs
sticking out the other side of the knot.
Cut the end of the straw to make a point.

To Do and Notice

Rub the PVC tube with the wool.

You should hear the crackling discharge that indicates that the
tube is electrically charged.

Hold the PVC with one end in your hand, hold the loop of tinsel in
your other hand, near but not touching the PVC tube, with the two
"legs" toward the PVC. Hold it about 10 cm away.

The tinsel will be attracted to the charged PVC. Release the
tinsel, it will jump toward the PVC tube.

If the tube is highly charged, notice that the tinsel gets close
to the PVC and then jumps away. Watch out! The tinsel will be
attracted to your hand and your body, keep away from it! If it
touches you it will lose its charge and you will not be able to fly
it.

Hold the PVC tube under the tinsel. The electrostatic repulsion
will push up the tinsel and hold it in the air even though gravity is
pulling it down.

Notice that the loop of tinsel opens up into a circle.

If the tube is less highly charged, the tinsel will be attracted
to and then wrap itself around the tube.
Shake the tinsel loose from the PVC tube or pull it loose using the
soda straw. (Be careful, do not touch the tinsel with your hand. For
students you may want to put two soda straws together to keep them
further away from the tinsel to avoid accidental touches. Slit one
end of a soda straw about 2 cm (1 inch) long. Then push the slit end
of one straw into another.)

If the PVC tube is not charged enough the tinsel will wrap around
the PVC. Shake the tinsel loose from the PVC tube, or pull it loose
using the soda straw. (Be careful, do not let the tinsel touch your
hand, you may want to put two soda straws together to keep your hand
farther away from the tinsel. Slit one end of a soda straw about 2 cm
(1 inch) long. Then push the slit end of one straw into another.)

If the PVC is too weakly charged the tinsel will stick to the PVC,
then when you pull it off the PVC it will not fly. It will not open
up into a circle either. In this case rub the PVC with wool harder
and longer.

What's Going On?

When you rub the PVC with the wool it becomes negatively charged.
(You can check this using the tape
electroscope.)

The tinsel is attracted to the charged PVC since charged things
attract uncharged things by electrically polarizing them. That is,
the near side of the tinsel becomes positively charged while the far
side becomes negative. The attraction of the negative PVC for the
near, positive, side of the tinsel is weaker than the repulsion for
the far, negative, side.

When the tinsel gets close enough to the PVC, some of the charge
from the PVC is transferred to the tinsel so that both are negatively
charged. They then repel and you can use this repulsion to fly the
tinsel.

The tinsel opens up into a circle since all of the negative
charges on the conducting aluminum of the tinsel repel each
other.

If the rod is not charged enough then the negative charge on the
insulating rod cannot jump to the tinsel which remains mostly
uncharged. The negatively charged tinsel then attracts and holds the
uncharged tinsel. When you pull the tinsel off using the straw it
should pop open to form a circle, if it does not, it is not charged
enough to be levitated.

The tinsel opens up into a circle since all of the negative
charges on the conducting aluminum of the tinsel repel each other.
They spread uniformly around the tinsel then push each other away to
form a circle.

Etc.

If you can get some of the thin flat pink plastic that Asian
markets use to wrap packages you can make, and then fly, a "hydra."
See the Snack, Flying Hydra.

Tidbit

You can also use a large piece of Styrofoam, over 30 cm square (1
foot) to fly the tinsel and the hydra.

Resources

See the book "Flying Tinsel" by Grant Mellor, June 1993, Addison
Wesley